


Who's That Girl, Charlie Brown?

by GE72



Category: Peanuts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 08:55:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11310021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GE72/pseuds/GE72
Summary: Charlie Brown spots a girl that he's never seen before and is intrigued by her. But it's not the Little Red Haired Girl. All he knows about this particular girl is that she has blue eyes....





	Who's That Girl, Charlie Brown?

**Author's Note:**

> Before I start this story, let’s get a couple of things out in the open. Here, Charlie Brown and his friends are now twelve years old, and living in Santa Rosa CA (where Charles Schulz lived since 1969 until his death), and the boys are playing Little League baseball. I used some locations in Santa Rosa in the story, including Mary's Pizza, a place Schulz supposedly liked to go to (the one on the east side of town).  
> That said, enjoy the story....

The first time he saw her, she was in the crowd.

Charlie Brown had just stepped to the plate. His Little League team, the Giants, were down 5-3 in the top of the sixth inning with two out to the Rockies. His friend, Linus, was on second base, and Franklin was on first base. Little League rules stipulate that everyone on the team has to play. Charlie was the last one to play, so in he went as a pinch hitter. 

He hadn’t stepped into the batter’s box when he saw her. Just a glimpse of her, but it was enough. He just shook it off and stepped into the batter’s box.

He swung at the first pitch - STRIKE ONE! Charlie could hear the grousing already. _That kid can’t play._

The next pitch came in, fastball right down the middle. Charlie swung. STRIKE TWO!

He stepped out of the batter's box, trying to compose himself. That's when he saw her again.

He didn’t see much – except for the eyes. There was something about them. He saw her face, just for a second, but the sight of her eyes, it definitely left an impression on him.  
He stepped back into the batter’s box. Almost immediately, he could hear the jeers. _That kid can’t play! He sucks at everything! He’ll never be good at anything!_

The pitch came down the middle again. Then he heard, _You can do it!_

Charlie swung. The ball was hit hard right at the hole between shortstop and the second base. The shortstop stuck out his glove hand – and the ball ricocheted off his glove into center field. Linus came into home plate standing up, and Franklin safely made it into third, as Charlie made it to first base safely. The score was now 5-4. At least it quieted the naysayers down, as some cheers went up for Charlie. 

Unfortunately, 5-4 was the final score of the game. The next batter, Shermy, flew out to right field to end the game and give the Rockies the win.

After a good pep talk by the coach – Linus’ father was the coach – the team dispersed and went off to their various parents. Charlie slowly walked over to his father.

“You did good Charlie,” his dad said to him. That, made Charlie feel good about himself, a rarity in his life. At least, he didn’t lose the game. On the downside, one could say he only prolonged the agony. And they said torture only happened to San Francisco Giants’ fans.

“Hey, Charlie,” Linus called out. “We’re headed to Mary’s Pizza! Wanna join us?”

“Sure thing, Linus,” Charlie called back. Then Charlie looked around the park. 

“Who are you looking for, son?” his father asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied. All he knew is that he didn’t see….her.

*******************************

A pizza and some sodas helped wash away the disappointment of the loss. The team had won before that season, but some cynics pointed out that the team won because Charlie wasn’t there. There were two games where Charlie missed because of illness; if it was of any consequence, the losses they had that season were not of the blowout variety.

But that wasn’t what was bothering Charlie Brown. He kept it to himself while the others were scarfing down pizza and sodas at Mary’s Pizza in Santa Rosa. Later, when he was at Linus’ house with Schroeder, Shermy, and Franklin, all playing on the XBox, he was still keeping it in.

The image of that girl. Especially her eyes. They seemed to have placed a permanent spot in his mind.

“Charlie? Are you there?” Linus said to him finally. 

No answer.

“Charlie! Earth to Charlie! This is mission control!” 

“Don’t worry, I’m here,” Charlie replied, “not in Petaluma.”

“You’re up,” Linus said, handing him over the Xbox controller.

“I’ll pass.” 

Linus handed the controls to Franklin, who went on to wreak havoc on “Gears of War.” Charlie stepped outside to the back porch. Linus followed him.

“Are you all right?” Linus asked him.

“I am,” Charlie replied. “I just have things on my mind.”

“Such as?”

“Such as what?”

“The usual stuff?”

“Oh, if it were only that simple.” Charlie sat down on a chair on the porch. Linus sat down on another facing his friend.

“Actually, it’s kind of weird,” Charlie said. 

“How so?”

“When I was up at the plate today,” Charlie said. “I saw this girl.” He related the story of the girl he saw in the crowd before he made his hit.

“That’s it?” Linus said. “You saw a girl? Stop the presses!” He then said, “Does the little red haired one know?”

“No, she doesn’t,” Charlie said. “I heard she was down in The City with her parents this weekend. But this girl…” Charlie searched for the right words. “I can’t stop thinking about her. I guess it was those eyes.”

“Her eyes? What about them?”

“I don’t know. They were just….so….I don’t know.”

Linus leaned in. “This might be for real.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see this girl, and you have trouble processing it,” Linus said. “This is very different.”

“How so?”

“This is the first time you’ve seen a girl and didn’t have a full blown, panic induced, all out anxiety attack,” Linus pointed out.

“I noticed that too,” Charlie said. “Thank God for adolescence.”

“Are you sure this girl is for real?”

“I saw her!” Charlie insisted. “It wasn’t Heather. If I see her again, I’ll know who she is.” Then in a calmer voice, he said, “Oh, who am I kidding? That girl was probably passing through town anyway. Probably also has a boyfriend too.”

“Now that’s the Charlie Brown I know,” Linus said.

**********************************************

Another Saturday came, and it was time for another Little League baseball game. Charlie’s team, the Giants, were playing the Cardinals, at the Maroni Fields in Santa Rosa, a few blocks away from the Montgomery Village shopping center. In the standings, the Giants were in last place of the six team league, somewhat appropriate in relation to how the real Giants were doing in Major League baseball.

Before the game, Charlie looked around the area to see if the girl in question was there again. There were a lot of people in attendance at the field, but he couldn’t see the girl, if she was there at all. Charlie seemed resigned to the fact that whoever she was, she was there that one time, and that was it.

The game started with Charlie on the bench. The Giants and the Cardinals battled into the sixth inning, with the Cardinals leading 6-5. Just like the last game, Charlie would be coming off the bench in the sixth to fulfill the Little League rules of participation.

He went out in right field to start the sixth. Already he could hear the jeers from the fans. _Oh no the coach put him in! Hey Van Pelt, why are you trying to lose this game. Hey Brown, get it through your head – your kid is terrible!_

The first two Cardinals batters came up and grounded out, both times to Linus at second base. The third batter came up and stood in the left handed batter’s box, as everyone in the field steeled themselves for a big hit.

The first pitch the batter saw, he slugged high into the air above right field, where Charlie was standing. He took a step back to judge the ball…then saw the ball die in midair and begin to sink rapidly toward the ground.

Charlie took off running, his glove extended out as far as he could. One of two things were going to happen: the ball was going to hit the ground before he got there, or the ball would hit his glove – and bounce out or just plain fall out.

Charlie dove for a potential catch. The Giants fans screamed a seemingly collective “AUGH!” Except one person who called out, _“You can do it Charlie Brown!”_

The ball and Charlie landed simultaneously. The only question was how loud were the boos going to be.

First there were the catcalls and swearing from the Giants parents and fans, as Charlie raised his glove hand. The ball…..was still there. Gasps of amazement followed. Then the umpire signaled….OUT. More gasps of amazement followed, not because of that the catch was made, but who made it. Usually, the ball would’ve bounced out of Charlie’s glove, no matter what. This time, the ball stayed in the glove.

Charlie got up and headed back to the dugout, being congratulated by his teammates on an incredible catch. Even he was surprised that he caught it.

Coach Van Pelt rallied the team around him in the dugout. “Okay, team,” he told them, “we can still win this. Go out there and get on base, and then get some runs.” The team dispersed, but the coach said, “Charlie, you’ll be third up to bat this inning.”

The first batter of the inning, Roy, flew out to centerfield. Linus was up next. On a 1-1 pitch, he stroked a single to the opposite field.

Charlie was up next. He stood in the batter’s pitch. Jeers and catcalls emanated from the stands, some from the Giants fans.

The first pitch he took was a strike. The second pitch bounced up to the plate for a ball. 

The next pitch came, as more jeers came out at him.

But that one voice yelled out, _“You can do it Charlie Brown!”_

Charlie swung….and the ball went THWACK right past the second baseman. Linus charged from first base to third base on the play, as Charlie went to first on the single.  
As he stood on first base, he quickly scanned the crowd. There were lots of parents and fans, equally astonished and upset at this turn of events. They were all bewildered at what they had seen and….

There she was. He could see her clearly, looking at him behind the chain link fence. To say she was pretty would be on target. She had brunette hair, just down past her neck. Her face looked soft, well sculpted, and…

Her eyes. Even from a distance, Charlie could tell that her eyes were blue. There was something about those eyes…

“Charlie! Wake up!” Linus called out from third base. “Be ready to run!”

Franklin was at the plate now. The first pitch was a strike. Franklin got ready for the next pitch, as Linus and Charlie got ready to run.

Then he heard her shout _“Go Charlie Brown!”_

Franklin swung at the next pitch and THWACK! – the ball went zinging into left field up the foul line. Linus easily made it home on the play, as Charlie rounded second base, running as hard as he could. The ball bounced around in the corner of left field between the foul line and the fence. Charlie was at third base when the outfielder finally got a hold of the ball and hurled it towards the infield. But instead of holding up at third, Charlie rounded third base and charged for home.

The Giants in the dugout yelled out, “SLIDE CHARLIE SLIDE!” 

The third baseman caught the ball and hurled it towards home plate to the catcher. The ball and Charlie arrived at the same time. Except the ball was two feet to the right of the plate, far enough for Charlie to slide safely feet first into home plate with the winning run.

The Giants bench exploded in joy, then ran out to congratulate Charlie for scoring the winning run. As joyous as they were, they were also confounded that Charlie did something that enabled everyone around him to win. But that didn’t matter, they won. And Charlie was just as overjoyed for scoring the winning run, and in short, just winning. 

But amidst the celebrating, he quickly looked around for her. The blue eyed girl. Where was she?

She was there behind the fence at the backstop. She was smiling, politely cheering with the other Giants fans and parents, who were wildly cheering the win (though some of the fans faces showed they wished it wasn’t Charlie who made the winning run). He had to know who she was.

As soon as he could, Charlie broke away from the celebration and ran out of the field entrance. Linus saw what he was doing.

“Charlie, come back!” he called out. “Where are you going?”

Charlie ran to where he had seen her, behind the backstop. She wasn’t there. He looked around. Some of the fans were headed for the parking lot. 

He quickly went to the parking lot. Only a couple of people had gone to their cars; most everyone who had watched the game were probably heading to picnic area. He looked around, but didn’t see her. She’s gone, he thought.

Charlie took two steps back and turned around.

“Hi there,” she said. She was standing right there, a few feet in front of him. She was wearing a white shirt and pink walking shorts. Immediately, he looked at her, right in her eyes. They were so blue….

“Hi there,” Charlie stammered, barely getting the words out. He then said, “You’re real.”

“So I’ve been told,” said the pretty blue eyed girl.

“I’m sorry,” Charlie said, “I don’t mean to be, I mean, you see…” The words weren’t coming out right. But finally, he asked, “Who are you?”

She told him her name. 

“And how did you know who I was?”

“I asked some people who you were at the last game,” the pretty blue eyed girl replied. “Some of them thought you were some kind of loser.”

“They’re mostly right.”

“Even losers win once in a while. Like you did today.”

“I suppose there’s that.”

There was an awkward pause. Suddenly, Charlie said, “You’re so beautiful.”

She blushed. “I’ve been told that too.”

“I suppose you already have a boyfriend.”

“Well, there’s this boy back home,” she said. “He’s not my boyfriend, but we’re friends. In a way, he’s kind of like you. He means well. Sometimes, he tries too hard, but he’d rather try too hard than not at all.”

“Sounds like me,” Charlie said. 

“Well, I’m glad your team won today.”

Charlie said, “Why don’t you and me get some ice cream right now?”

“I’d like to, but I can’t,” she said. “Me and my parents were visiting our relatives here in Santa Rosa and over in Sacramento the past couple of weeks. We’re leaving tomorrow to head home.”

“Where’s home?”

“Seattle.”

“If I ever make it up there, I’ll look you up.”

“I’d like that.”

She stepped forward and kissed him ever so softly on his cheek. “Goodbye,” she said. With that, the pretty blue eyed girl walked off, as Charlie watched her go off down the lot.

He turned to walk back to the field and his teammates, only to find Linus, Schroeder, Shermy, Franklin, and Roy, standing there, looking at him. The look on Charlie’s face said it all.

*************************************************************

“So, she kissed you and said goodbye? That’s it?”

“That’s all to tell,” Charlie said to his friend. “I found out who she was, got her name, said a few things, and she left.” The two of them were at his house, sitting on the front steps, a couple of days later on a late afternoon.

“But not until she kissed you.”

Charlie nodded. “You didn’t like that part.”

“Well, not really. But I guess it comes with the territory.”

“What gets me,” Charlie said, “is that when I first saw her, I didn’t have an anxiety or a panic attack. I wonder why.”

“Maybe it’s a sign that you’re maturing.”

“I hope so. But I also want to see her again, though I’m pretty sure that’s never going to happen. Besides, that boy she talked about will probably end up being her boyfriend.”

“Never say never.”

“I suppose so. But even though she’s so pretty, there’s one thing she isn’t.”

“What’s that?”

Charlie leaned forward and said, “She’s not you, Heather.” Then he kissed her ever so softly.


End file.
